KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, June 10, 2002: Sixty-eight young males and one-hundred and seventy-four females looking for a marriage partner participated in the Malaysia Hindu Sangam's matchmaking event on June 10th. To take part in the event, participants paid RM 20 each which allowed them to look at photographs of potential life partners. A male pharmacist from Penak successfully met a female systems technician from Serebam. The pair were comfortable with each other and have asked their families to make follow-up arrangements. A thirty-eight year old auditor, who was disillusioned about marriage, was able to find a thirty-two year old bank teller. President of the Hindu Sangam, A. Vaithiligam, said, " The event was held following the success of the first Suyamvaran in 1989 when 10 out of 12 men found life partners."

DEHRA DUN, INDIA, June 16: Twenty-six pilgrims were drowned and six injured, two of them seriously, when a private bus in which they were returning from Badrinath shrine skidded off the road and plunged into the Alaknanda river at Baldora area in Chamoli district last night, police said today. The bus, going to Hardwar from Badrinath, was carrying 32 pilgrims including 17 women when the mishap occurred at Baldora near Vishnuprayag area. The pilgrims were mostly from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. The bus, belonging to a private travel agency in Hardwar, had completely submerged into the swirling waters of the Alaknanda, a tributary of Ganga, Mishra said.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, SOUTH INDIA, June 9, 2002: A VHP recruitment drive here got off to a slower-than-hoped start, but the local leaders were still satisfied with the results. Though the drive was aimed at enlisting youth in a program to check conversion in tribal areas, half those enrolling were older. VHP organizing secretary Kummanam Rajasekharan said he was satisfied with the numbers. "It is just the beginning. Teething problems are there. Once the first batch is out more youth can be attracted." The VHP's latest plan had evoked protests from various quarters. Communists and social activists had dubbed it as a ploy to 'Gujaratize' the hitherto peaceful state. Opposition leader V. S. Achtuthanandan had asked Chief Minister A. K. Antony to ban the drive. The VHP reasoned that a state which produced so many Christian missionaries from its Christian minority should be able to produce Hindu missionaries from the majority community.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, April 28, 2002: Ever since Dolly the cloned sheep hit the news in 1997, her progress and life has been watched world-wide. Cloning, using the DNA of an adult cell and injecting it into an egg, has been attempted by scientists around the world. Ian Wilmut, co-creator of Dolly the sheep, has analyzed the findings and has published his research. Wilmut says, "The widespread problems associated with clones has led to questions as to whether any clone was entirely normal." Dolly the sheep has developed arthritis at an abnormally young age. A cloned calf in France died after living only 51 days because its body could not produce white blood cells. At the Roslin research center in Scotland, the same center where Dolly was produced, a cloned lamb had to be put down because the muscles surrounding the lungs were too large causing the calf to suffocate. Wilmut believes that the problem with clones can be attributed to the behavior of methyl molecules. He says, "Methyl molecules attach themselves to DNA in all cells and help to control many of its functions. The methylation of the DNA in adult cells differs sharply from that of sperm and eggs. When a nucleus is taken from a cell of an adult animal and injected into an egg, its DNA is formatted in radically different ways from that found in sperm." Wilmut's research comes at a time when some scientists are attempting to clone human beings. Ian Wilmut warns, "Nobody should be attempting to clone a child. My research suggests that a cloned human would also be at huge risk of genetic defects."

BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA, INDIA, June 18, 2002: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has reconverted over 5,000 tribal Christians to Hinduism in the Sundargarh district during the past two years. The VHP's local unit conducted a ceremony after the converted Christians filed affidavits expressing their willingness to reconvert, either before the court or the notary. On June 16, about 143 tribals belonging to 46 families of Oram, Munda and Khadia tribes were reconverted at a special function organized by the Rourkela unit of the VHP at Tainser village under Lathikata block. According to the local VHP organizing secretary, Achyutanand Kar, these tribals had filed affidavits a fortnight ago. Their case was communicated to the district authority before the ceremony was organized. Mr. Kar alleged that Christian missionaries had induced not only tribals but also others in the district to convert to Christianity. Sundargarh alone had as many as 1,100 churches spread over almost all the villages, he added.

BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, June 19, 2002: The Global Council of Indian Christians has demanded an enquiry into the alleged conversion of 143 tribal Christians into Hinduism by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Orissa's Sundargarh district on June 16. In a statement issued today, the national convener of the council, Sajan K. George, alleged that the conversions were done in contravention of the provisions of the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act and "connivance" of the government machinery. Before conversion, the tribals belonged to Oram, Munda and Khadia tribes and were not Hindus, Mr. George claimed. HPI adds: It has been a tact developed in the last few years for Christians to claim that the tribal people of India are not Hindus, as they have been traditionally regarded, but of another, "tribal," religion. By a calculation made in one Hinduism Today article (www.hinduismtoday.com/1989/02/, "The Big Business of Evangelizing:), it costs the missionaries about US$6,000 to convert one Hindu to Christianity. The 143 tribals, then, would represent a loss of $858,000, and the VHP's claimed total of 5,000 reconverted tribals, $30 million.

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2002: Hospitals, and in particular maternity wards, have had to adapt to multicultural traditions and practices in an attempt to meet the needs of immigrant mothers in the last ten years. In the last decade half of all births in the U.S. have been to mothers born outside the country, compared to one in three births in 1990. At the Holy Cross Hospital, an Indian gentleman from Bombay brings his wife home-cooked curries because the elders of his family insist that a new mother eat certain grains and seeds. On the same ward, a nurse struggles with a Vietnamese grandmother who insists that she not place a cold pack on the new mother's body to reduce swelling. In that culture the belief is that cold will disrupt a person's equilibrium leading to bad health. To accommodate the culture of African countries, Holy Cross has ordered special biohazard containers so that patients can take the placenta home and bury it. Similar efforts to accommodate new mothers of different cultures are being put into place at Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly. Women are allowed to give birth in a variety of positions as suggested by their traditional customs. More visitors are allowed in delivery rooms at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church. This is especially important to Latin American women who want their extended family nearby. Elita Rosillo-Christiansen, supervisor of multicultural initiatives at Inova, says, "Its extremely challenging, because you don't just have to worry about meeting the language or religious needs of one culture, but of multiple cultures and multiple beliefs and values surrounding health care." To meet the demand, hospitals have hired multicultural experts to run sensitivity workshops and to write internal guides to assist the medical staff in understanding how to relate to different traditions. Patti DiGiovanni, a nurse at Holy Cross, admits that there are challenges. However, she adds that the diversity has made her job more interesting and she has learned alot about other cultures even though she has not travelled outside the U.S.

CALIFORNIA, USA, June 15, 2002: Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley say they have done what their homeland could not: raise respect for itself. At an annual conference Friday put on by the Indus Entrepreneurs, speakers talked about how expatriate businessmen are helping transform the subcontinent's rigid, closed economy into a success. "India's struggle for economic freedom started in the Valley," Narayan Murthy, told the morning crowd of 2,400 investors, entrepreneurs and others hoping to tap into the powerful business network in Santa Clara. Founded in the Valley in 1992, the group now has 38 chapters and 8,000 members worldwide. Murthy, chairman of Infosys, a software services company, compared Indian entrepreneurs living abroad with Mohandas Gandhi, who began his peaceful struggle for India's independence from Britain while in South Africa. Likewise, Indian expatriates are bringing jobs and new ideas to their ancestral land. Even as it expands, the group hopes to maintain its distinct identity, for example with its mentoring program.

NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 20, 2002: As if there is nothing better to report on in India, today's Associated Press carried this single story on Hinduism: "The drought-plagued residents of a small village in southern India organized a ceremonial wedding for two donkeys to appease the Hindu god of rain, a news report said Thursday. Dressed up like a bride and groom, the donkeys were escorted to a temple in the village of Sakkayanayakanur in Tamil Nadu state on Wednesday, the Press Trust of India reported. There, a local priest chanted prayers and led the donkeys in a ritual ceremony to propitiate the rain god, Varuna. The beasts were then led in a procession that ended with a wedding feast -- for the donkeys and local villagers. The donkey wedding was the second to be held in the small Indian village, which like much of the country has endured months of drought, aggravated by a heat wave that has claimed hundreds of lives. Temperatures in some areas have soared as high as 118 degrees. The seasonal monsoons, which feed the agricultural economy of Tamil Nadu, have started late in parts of southern India this year." No explanation of the custom is offered, nor whether past donkey marriages were followed by the lifting of a drought.

ROURKELA, ORISSA, June 18, 2002: Altogether 143 Christian tribals, belonging to 47 families, have been reconverted to Hinduism at an Atma Suddhi Yagna ceremony held at Tainsar village under Brahmanitaranga police station, about 30 km from here, police said. The ceremony to mark the reconversion of the tribals, belonging to the Oram community, was organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday. The tribals, many among them women, attended the yagna after a bath and were provided new clothes. VHP sources said the tribals, who were Hindus, had been converted to Christianity and were returning to their original faith.

NAHAN, INDIA, June 16, 2002: Inmates of the local Central Model Jail are on the way to reforming themselves with the help of yoga. The gradual transformation is the result of the voluntary efforts of Mr. Sharad Katara, who is a yoga teacher helping inmates bring about a better change in their lives. Inmates wake up early in the morning and gather on the jail premises, patiently waiting for their teacher to come and begin classes. About 30 inmates were attending the classes, most of them go regularly. It is reported that the inmates have shown signs of improvement in their behavior and attitude and their chronic ailments had also been cured. They also felt less tense and depressed. Mr Katara was hopeful of considerable transformation in their lives in the near future.

DELHI, INDIA, June 19, 2002: Manushi magazine has established a relief fund for victims of the Gujarat riots. Their press release reads, "The Gujarat riots have rendered nearly 200,000 people homeless in their own home land. Equally alarming is the government's refusal to provide necessary relief and rehabilitation. Moreover, very few secular agencies have undertaken relief work. Victims from the minority community have been left at the mercy of their religious leaders. This is bound to sharpen the already dangerous communal divide. It is specially important that young children who have experienced or witnessed gruesome forms of communal violence do not grow up feeling totally estranged and bitter from other communities. For this we need to build concrete bridges of communication and caring. Towards this end, Manushi invites contributions for supporting the education of children from riot affected families and help in rebuilding destroyed homes. We will identify recipients in collaboration with local NGOs and keep you informed about the use of the money through pages of Manushi and our website." For further information, e-mail "source" above, or send contributions to Manushi, C 1/3 Sangam Estate, 1 Underhill Road Civil Lines, Delhi, 110054, India.

USA, June 13, 2002: Fearing they may be held responsible for the nation's expanding waistline, U.S. food and beverage makers are going on the defensive with obesity. Some packaged-food companies are contemplating advertisements that would discourage consumers from overeating their products. A handful are giving exercise equipment to schools and expanding the health-and-wellness information on their Web sites. Others are mulling legal issues in case they are accused in lawsuits of promoting a growing national health crisis. In December, a surgeon General's report warned that obesity rates in the U.S. had reached epidemic levels and called for a "national plan of action." Last month, the Grocery Manufacturers of America, the powerful food-trade group, urged a congressional panel not to blame individual foods as the cause of America's weight gain. Recently a handful of lawsuits have accused food companies of deceptive marketing. Sued for billing its french fries as vegetarian, even though they are made with a beef flavoring, McDonald's Corp., said it would donate $10 million to Hindu groups and others in the U.S. as a partial settlement. A similar complaint was filed against Pizza Hut, alleging that the company concealed the use of beef products in its "vegetarian" pizzas. While the current litigation mainly targets companies for allegedly misleading claims, not for selling fattening foods, some legal experts see the cases as a portent for future obesity suits.

JAMMU, INDIA, June 16, 2002: Islamic guerrillas threw grenades and fired guns at Hindu pilgrims trudging down from a mountaintop shrine in Jammu-Kashmir, starting a battle that killed three Hindu children and three of the pilgrims' Muslim escorts, police said Sunday. This is a revision to yesterday's report that stated only two people were killed. Religious tension swept through two towns near the site of the fighting Saturday after rumors spread that the Muslims, Muslim members of the local Village Defense Committee, armed and trained by the government to defend against guerrilla attacks, were actually killed by Hindus avenging the deaths of the children -- two boys and a teen-age girl. Police in Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir, said militants lobbed grenades and fired automatic weapons at about 500 Hindu pilgrims Saturday afternoon as they walked down a mountain path from the shrine of Hadh Mata, 120 miles northeast of Jammu. Seven pilgrims were wounded, and three of them -- two boys, 11 and 13, and a girl, 17 -- died on way to a hospital, police said. Police and armed escorts traveling with the pilgrims fired back, and a gunbattle persisted for hours, police said. Two Muslim escorts and a Muslim official traveling as a representative of the government were killed. Police said they died in the cross fire, but the rumors that their deaths were retaliation sparked religious tension in the mountain towns of Kishtwar and Bhadarwah. Police stepped up security to avert clashes.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN, June 10, 2002: Afghanistan's tiny Hindu and Sikh communities, forced to the brink of extinction by the Taleban regime, are hoping to make a social and political re-emergence at the Loya Jirga Assembly from June 10 to 16. Community leaders said their presence at the assembly was a reassertion of the rights of the nation's only non-Muslim minorities and that they expected the tribal gathering to alleviate the suffering of the country's 30,000 Sikhs and Hindus, most of who have fled." We want somebody who would treat all Afghans -- irrespective of their religious and ethnic backgrounds -- as his own equal children," said Awtar Singh, a delegate to the Loya Jirga from the eastern province of Paktia. Sikhs and Hindus, united in adversity, are close in Afghanistan. In predominantly Muslim Afghanistan, they share the same temples as well as many religious ceremonies."We are from Afghanistan, having to share its every joy and grief. Loya Jirga is very important for us because we have suffered under the Taleban, we had our temples destroyed," he said. Autar Singh, an ex-officer from the Paktia Army Corps, recounted a long list of edicts announced by the religious militia which were aimed at eventually ridding Afghanistan of its Hindu and Sikh population. "We were told not to wear Muslim outfits, not to carry guns, not to mingle with Muslims, not to build more temples, to wear yellow clothes and to put up yellow flags on our houses and shops," he said.